These are a million dollars?!? I think I’d be dancing like this (see below) if I had a house around my ears also! I wonder if they come with free repairs, though? Cause you know in less than a year you’re gonna sit on ‘em and fuck ‘em up hard!
Midnight on the West, Cole drops a new track with David Ruffin’s song “Double Crossed” sampled almost in it’s entirety as he talks about his new life, bringing Soul back into Hip Hop and people asking him stupid questions.
The first time I heard Bat Out Of Hell I’d been working as the agget clerk (scoreboard) at the Monterey County Herald, CA, during my last year of college. It was the job where I did everything everyone else didn’t want to do, but it was my first job in the newspaper world so it made sense.
I’d been talking new music with my friend and co-worker, Peggy, who sat as the copy editor at the sports desk, for the most of the time I’d been working there. She’d ask me if I’d heard of this band and that band, passing me burned CDs of her latest iTunes downloads, and some of them would be bad (HIM), but some actually were pretty cool. She’d been the first person to introduce me to Wolfmother and the album of the day, Meatloaf’s Bat Out Of Hell.
At first I was reluctant; I didn’t think this rock opera from the 70s sung by the guy I grew up knowing as Eddy, from Rocky Horror Picture Show, could have anything I would ever be into. But, like I’ve said before and enviably will say again, I was wrong. The album was fun, a little over the top and tells a stupid little story, but I really did enjoy it. Part of the reason is I have a really big soft spot for rock-operas – I did grow up on Queen, the Who, and Prince, so I guess it’s only natural.
Here’s a few songs off the album I especially liked. Take a listen.
Original Track List:
All songs written and composed by Jim Steinman. Side one
1. “Bat Out of Hell”
2. “You Took the Words Right out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)”
3. “Heaven Can Wait”
4. “All Revved Up with No Place to Go” Side two
5. “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”
6. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”
7. “For Crying Out Loud”
At first look, Jordan Brand’s new release, the AIR JORDAN (AJ) 2012, is like Crystal Pepsi: a complete mistake and will be forgotten as quickly as it was created. The press photos, however, for the 27th shoe from Air Jordan didn’t do them any justice. With the shoe out of the box and on your feet it’s a completely different story: The design was clean and the fit was sturdy on and off the court. What stood out the most about the AJ 2012 Deluxe was this year’s innovation to give each player on the court the option and opportunity to customize the shoe for their style of play. The way Jordan Brand did that was by offering two completely interchangeable inner sleeves, high and low top, for each shoe along with three additional midsoles, for a player that wants to “fly through,” “fly over,” or “fly around” their opponent, equaling six different ways to wear the one pair of shoes. Along with AJ 2012 Deluxe, which was released today, February 8th for $223, and is available in two color styles, a grey and a baby blue, Jordan Brand is also releasing The AIR JORDAN 2012 Flight System, a toned down model of the Deluxe, on February 25th for $180. The AJ 2012 Flight System comes as the same silhouette as the Deluxe but is offered at a lower price because it comes with one inner sleeve and one midsole and you will be customizing your shoe at the stores based on your style of play. AJ 2012 also will be offered on iD on February 14th for $205. The system allows you to fully control and design the color combination, inner sleeves and midsole type you want for the shoe. “As a basketball player, I always wanted a shoe that adapted with my game,” said Michael Jordan. “On any given night I had to adjust my style of play for countless reasons and the Air Jordan 2012 meets those needs with six different configurations. I’m proud to say there is not another shoe like it in the market.”
After a disastrous release by Sleigh Bells today I had to find some life in music. Zebra Katz provided just that with their song, Ima Read, which is a slow pushing beat and repetitive hook that breaks into a nasty monotone flow. If you watched the video above you’ll know what I mean; if you haven’t take a look cause it’s unarguably mesmerizing.
Hands down, this has to be one of the worst songs I’ve heard in a long time! The lyrics are trite, the melody is a forced replica of their last album and it just sounds like Krauss is whining the whole time. Honestly, I didn’t even make it halfway through the track… Needless-to-say, it looks like Sleigh Bells is well on their way to releasing a Sophomore-slump with Reign of Terror.
Maybe trying to do an album a day for a full year was a bit of a lofty goal… When you start a project like this no one reminds you that Christmas will come around, thanksgiving, birthdays, work, girlfriend, and a million other obligations will all get in the way and it’ll be up to you, and no one else, to make sure you write a post, and caught up if you fall behind. It’s hard as hell.
Today, though, I had a little reprieve from work and got around to catching up and enjoying an album I haven’t listened to since I was young, Lou Reed’s Berlin.
As a kid Men Of Good Fortune and How Do You Think It Feels were a couple of tracks that would make it on every road-trip-mix-tape I made, so my history with this album goes back a long way.
Here’s a few songs from the album you should know or if you don’t you should give it another listen.
Original Track List:
Side one
1. “Berlin”
2. “Lady Day”
3. “Men of Good Fortune”
4. “Caroline Says I”
5. “How Do You Think It Feels”
6. “Oh, Jim” Side two
1. “Caroline Says II”
2. “The Kids”
3. “The Bed”
4. “Sad Song”
If I were this girl’s dad I’d be so proud, cause she’s hard as shit! She opens up the pit on a trampoline with a mass of stuffed animals, does the windmill in the middle of the street and loves her fish.
Talking Heads are one of those bands people will listen to forever. My parent’s loved them when they first came out, I grew up with them playing out the speakers every party/dinner we had at the house, and even today kids who are just starting to get into music talk about Talking Heads as though they’ve come across the Holy Grail of late-70s and 80s rock – which they’re close to being right.
I actually ran into one such cool little dude a few months back as I flew out to Portland to cover a Nike shoe release for YRB magazine. He was probably 17 or 18 so calling him little both makes me out to sound like an old dude and belittle him so I take back the little part. Anyway, he started talking about his favorite bands at the time and among the list was Talking Heads.
Not really expecting that to be in the list I asked him what his favorite was. Without hesitation he answered, “Talking Head 77!”
The reason I bring up this story is cause today I listened to a Talking Heads’ album I’d never heard the whole way through, Stop Making Sense, which came out 1984 the year I was born, for the album of the day. Strangely enough I’d never seen the documentary they made, which the album comes from, as well.
As I listened I knew most of the songs: Psycho Killer, Burning Down the House, and This Must Be the Place, but some were new to me like Life During Wartime and Found a Job. I realized I must have grown up with only the hits from Talking Heads more than the band itself.
After, I wanted to learn about the band I thought I knew so well and started to research the album and history of the band. It turns out the documentary had a $1.2 million budget, which they raised themselves, and was shoot and directed by Jonathan Demme over a three-night-stand at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December 1983 while touring for their fifth studio album, Speaking in Tongues. The album/movie is also know as being the first to enterally use digital audio techniques.
The album isn’t a greatest hits album by title, but the track list tells the real story. Here’s a few songs to give you a glimpse:
1. “Psycho Killer”
2. “Heaven”
3. “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel”
4. “Found a Job”
5. “Slippery People”
6. “Burning Down the House”
7. “Life During Wartime”
8. “Making Flippy Floppy”
9. “Swamp”
10. “What a Day That Was”
11. “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)”
12. “Once in a Lifetime”
13. “Genius of Love”
14. “Girlfriend is Better”
15. “Take Me to the River” (written by Al Green, Mabon “Teenie” Hodges)
16. “Crosseyed and Painless”
De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Risings is the first hip hop album I’ve come across on this list, which was also chosen by the Library of Congress in 2010 as an addition to the National Recording Registry. The annually selected albums are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, so that’s gotta mean something for all you non-hip hop fans out there.
3 Feet High and Risings, which comes from a Johnny Cash line, “Five Feet High and Rising,” is De La Soul’s ’89 debut release, featuring the Jungle Brothers and Q-Tip, and first of three records they did with producer Prince Paul. Their style was revolutionary, it was heartfelt, honest and lacked much profanity at all.
Here’s a few songs to give you a taste:
Original Track List:
1. “Intro”
2. “The Magic Number”
3. “Change in Speak”
4. “Cool Breeze on the Rocks”
5. “Can U Keep a Secret”
6. “Jenifa Taught Me (Derwin’s Revenge)”
7. “Ghetto Thang”
8. “Transmitting Live from Mars”
9. “Eye Know”
10. “Take It Off”
11. “A Little Bit of Soap”
12. “Tread Water”
13. “Potholes in My Lawn”
14. “Say No Go”
15. “Do as De La Does”
16. “Plug Tunin’ (Last Chance to Comprehend)”
17. “De La Orgee”
18. “Buddy” (featuring Q-Tip and Jungle Brothers)
19. “Description”
20. “Me Myself and I”
21. “This Is a Recording 4 Living in a Fulltime Era (L.I.F.E.)”
22. “I Can Do Anything (Delacratic)”
23. “D.A.I.S.Y. Age”
24. “Plug Tunin” (Original 12″ version)
